JP3586709B2 - Tag airship - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a tug airship used for collecting unmanned large airships staying in the stratosphere and for transporting cargo by air.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A stratosphere-retaining airship (hereinafter referred to as a stratosphere airship) is a large airship with a body length of 200 to 300 m, and is expected to be an electric-powered stratospheric unmanned platform with streamlined balloons. It stays for a long time and is used for research and observation of the global environment and for relaying radio waves.
A stratospheric airship is a pressurized membrane structure in which a buoyant gas such as helium gas is filled in a gas bag, which is a gas barrier membrane, and rises due to the excess buoyancy of the buoyant gas caused by the difference in specific gravity between the buoyant gas and atmospheric pressure. At the mission altitude, surplus buoyancy gas is released and stays.
[0003]
When a stratospheric airship is to be recovered at a sea or ground base, a part of the levitating gas is discharged and, as a general rule, is self-weighted to descend from the stratosphere at the mission altitude by unpowered flight to the sea, and is restrained above the sea surface by a sea anchor. Although it may be swept away by wind or ocean currents, it is generally mounted on a barge (barge) from the place where it descended (the so-called landing point) and towed to the base and returned.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when lowering a stratospheric airship to the sea to recover it, the stratospheric airship may be drowned by strong winds and landed offshore far away from land. However, since the speed of the barge is extremely low, usually 5 to 6 knots, the time required for the barge to arrive at the landing point and the time required for towing from the landing point to the base take time, and the workability is reduced. There is.
In addition, taking time to recover stratospheric airships means leaving the drifting stratospheric airships unattended for a long time, which is unfavorable for safety because of the possibility of contact with other ships. For this reason, there is a problem in that it is necessary to fly a warning aircraft, which increases costs.
[0005]
In addition, when stratospheric airships are exposed to strong winds, they can be swept away from the landing point by the wind even when using sea anchors, and also by the ocean currents, and can not catch up with the stratospheric airship at the speed of the barge In addition, when the stratospheric airship is landed on the sea in an emergency, there is a problem that it is not possible to wait at a predetermined landing point in advance.
[0006]
Further, since the barge is a large structure capable of mounting a large airship such as a stratospheric airship, there is a problem in that maintenance and management thereof are costly and uneconomical.
Therefore, in order to avoid such a problem, the stratospheric airship may be power-flighted at low altitude, but since the stratospheric airship is unmanned, sufficient weather resistance and reliability are required to power-fly at low altitude, In the stratosphere, where the air density is as low as 1/15 to 1/20 of the air density on the sea surface, the same speed as on the ground can be obtained with a small power proportional to this air density, but it is large enough to give the same speed in low altitudes near the ground Power flight at low altitudes is not advisable, as power is required and the hull strength is 15 to 20 times the power flight at the same speed in the stratosphere in proportion to the air density.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tag airship that can reliably recover a stratospheric airship in a short time and at low cost. is there.
The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a tug airship according to the present invention includes a propulsion device powered by an internal combustion engine, a stratosphere dwelling in the stratosphere, Supplying power, compressed air, helium gas, and water ballast to the tow line connected to the airship , equipment for capturing and connecting the stratosphere airship, the operator's boarding space, and the stratosphere airship via the tow line Equipment, and the stratospheric airship is towed through the tow line .
The tag airship having the above-described configuration is suitable for using a cycloidal propeller as the propulsion device, and the towing line is preferably connected to a maximum diameter portion of the hull or a center of gravity of the hull. .
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In describing the embodiments, components having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating towing a stratospheric airship by a tag airship according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are principle diagrams of a cycloidal propeller of the tag airship according to one embodiment of the present invention. is there.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, a tug airship 10 has a streamlined hull, a small and robust hull 11 having a gas bag as a gas barrier membrane, and a tail fin 12, and the inside of the hull 11 is filled with helium gas as a levitation gas. It is made of a pressurized membrane structure or a bone structure having sufficient strength and rigidity, or a combination thereof.
[0011]
The hull 11 is provided with towing lines 30 that join the tagging airship 10 and the stratospheric airship 20 so that the tagging airship 10 tow the stratospheric airship 20. It is connected to each of the joints 13 located. The position of the joint 13 is determined in consideration of the position of the propulsion device of the tag airship 10, which will be described later, the attitude of the hull 11 during cruising, and the relative position of the stratospheric airship 20. By positioning, sufficient strength and rigidity are obtained at the joint 13.
[0012]
At least one pair of propulsion devices powered by an internal combustion engine, for example, a cycloidal propeller (also referred to as a Hoyt Schneider propeller) 14 having its rotating shaft penetrated through the front portion of the hull 11 on both left and right sides of the front portion of the hull 11. Each is arranged and operable so that a large thrust can be instantaneously generated in the front-rear direction and the vertical direction of the tag airship 10.
Thus, when the tag airship 10 tow the stratospheric airship 20, the tag airship 10 and the stratospheric airship 20 are prevented from coming into contact with each other due to gusts or the like, and the towing line 30 is prevented from being entangled with the tag airship 10, and the stratospheric airship 20 is prevented. To ensure that it is towed.
[0013]
As an internal combustion engine that is a power source of the cycloidal propeller 14, a reciprocating engine such as a diesel engine or a turboprop engine is used.
[0014]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cycloidal propeller 14 has a large wing area, so that large thrust can be instantaneously and efficiently generated at a low speed in any direction. Symmetrical wings 14e are evenly arranged parallel to the main rotating shaft like a water turbine, and by changing the angle of attack of the rotating symmetrical wings 14 in any radial direction, instantaneously generating an extremely large thrust in the same direction. Can be.
In the cycloidal propeller 14, a rotating wheel 14a is always rotated around a center O by a motor, and an arm 14b is fixed to the rotating wheel 14a. The symmetric wing 14e can be tilted by pushing or pulling with a tilt link 14g about a pivot 14c at the tip of an arm 14b.
In the cycloidal propeller 14 shown in FIG. 2, the symmetric wings 14e are in the neutral position, and no force is generated in the radial direction even if all the symmetric wings 14e rotate counterclockwise around the center O.
However, as shown in FIG. 3, when the control point 14f is moved, for example, to the right, the tilt link 14g connected thereto tilts the respective symmetrical wings 14e to generate a lift in the left direction as a whole. By quickly moving the control point 14f in this manner, a thrust can be instantaneously output in an arbitrary direction.
[0015]
A predetermined portion of the hull 11 is provided with a payload bay (mounting space) on which equipment such as a small boat or a winch necessary for capturing and connecting the stratospheric airship 20 and on which a worker such as a diver is boarded is provided. The stratospheric airship 20 is provided with equipment for supplying power, compressed air, helium gas, water ballast, and the like necessary for maintaining its shape and adjusting buoyancy via the towing line 30 while the airship 20 is towed.
[0016]
The stratospheric airship 20 is a streamlined balloon and includes a hull 21 mainly composed of a gas bag serving as a gas barrier film and a tail fin 22. The hull 21 and the tail fin 22 are filled with helium gas as a levitation gas. It is built on a pressure membrane structure.
An electrically propelled propeller 24 is provided at a rear portion of the hull 21, a sea anchor 25 is provided at a lower portion of the hull 21, and a plurality of joints 23 for connecting a tow line 30 are provided at a front portion of the hull 21. .
[0017]
The stratospheric airship 20 is a large airship as an unmanned stratospheric platform that stays in the stratosphere for a long time and is used for earth environment observation, radio wave relay, etc., rises with surplus buoyancy of helium gas, and levitates surplus buoyancy at mission altitude. The gas releases and stays, and when descending, a part of the helium gas is further discharged and descends to the sea or the ground by its own weight.
[0018]
Next, a method for collecting the stratospheric airship 20 will be described.
First, the stratospheric airship 20 discharges a part of the helium gas and descends to the sea surface 40 by its own weight. After the descent, the stratospheric airship 20 inadvertently soars into the air due to a gust and lowers the sea anchor 25 into the sea so as not to move significantly from the landing point.
[0019]
The tag airship 10 approaches the stratospheric airship 20 and suspends equipment such as a small boat and a worker such as a diver on the sea surface 40 and lowers it. After capturing the stratospheric airship 20, the worker connects the towing line 30 to a line extending from the junction 23 of the stratospheric airship 20, and connects the tag airship 10 and the stratospheric airship 20.
Thereafter, the stratospheric airship 20 is towed by the propulsive force of the cycloidal propeller 14 of the tug airship 10, and returns to a sea or ground base. At that time, in an emergency, the tow line 30 can be cut off at any time, and power, compressed air, helium gas, water ballast, and the like are supplied to the stratospheric airship 20 from the tag airship 10 via the tow line 30.
[0020]
As described above, the tag airship 10 of the present embodiment has the hull 11 that is smaller and more robust than the stratospheric airship 20, uses a powerful internal combustion engine as a power source, and has excellent propulsion at low speeds. The stratospheric airship 20 towed during towing has equipment capable of supplying power, compressed air, helium gas, water ballast, etc. necessary for maintaining its shape and adjusting buoyancy. Since the workers and equipment necessary for the ship work are mounted, the stratospheric airship 20 can be reliably collected in a short time at low cost.
[0021]
In addition, since the tug airship 10 has a strong propulsion force and is much faster than a ship at sea, at 50 to 60 knots, when there is no work to recover the stratospheric airship 20 at sea, heavy or long-sized objects in mountainous areas and remote islands are required. By engaging in duties such as air transportation of cargo, it is possible to effectively use the product without wasting as much time as possible, thereby improving the economics of operation schedules.
[0022]
As described above, the tag airship according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the tag airship described in the above embodiment, and the invention described in the claims of the present invention. Various changes can be made in the design without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, by adopting a mechanism for controlling the pitch of the rotor of the pericopter in place of the cycloidal propeller 14, the tug airship 10 is raised, lowered, and generates a moment in the left-right direction. The attitude angle in the yaw direction can be changed in a short time, and the forward and backward movements can be performed at the same time.
The tail assembly can also be arranged in an inverted Y-shape to avoid interference between the towing line 30 and the tail 12.
In addition, if the joint 13 of the towing line 30 is positioned at the center of gravity of the hull 11 of the tag airship 10 so that interference between the towing line 30 and the tail unit 12 is avoided, the attitude control performance of the tail unit 12 is ensured. Will be maintained.
Further, when there is a possibility that the towed stratospheric airship 20 may rise or descend significantly from the tug airship 10, the tow line 30 fixed at the joint 13 may be re-fixed at the stern of the tug airship 10 and the tail wing 12 may be connected. Interference can also be avoided.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the stratospheric airship is towed in the air and returned to the base by a propulsion device powered by an internal combustion engine, for example, a tag airship equipped with a cycloidal propeller, so that the stratospheric airship Can be reliably recovered in a short time at low cost.
Further, since the towing line is connected to the maximum diameter portion of the hull, sufficient strength and rigidity can be obtained at the joint.
Also, if the towing line is connected to the center of gravity of the hull to avoid interference between the towing line and the tail of the tag airship, the attitude control performance of the tail can be reliably maintained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating towing a stratospheric airship by a tag airship according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a principle diagram of a cycloidal propeller of a tug airship according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a principle diagram of a cycloidal propeller of a tug airship according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Tag airship 11, 21 Hull 12, 22 Tail 13, 23 Joint 14 Cycloidal propeller 14a Rotating wheel 14b Arm 14c Pivot 14e Symmetrical wing 14f Control point 14g Tilt link 20 Stratospheric airship 24 Electric propulsion propeller 25 Sea anchor 30 Tow line 40 sea level

Claims (3)

A propulsion device powered by an internal combustion engine, a towing cable connected to a stratosphere-retaining stratospheric airship descending on the sea surface, and a capture / Equipment for connecting vessels, worker boarding space, and equipment for supplying power, compressed air, helium gas, and water ballast to the stratospheric airship via the towing line are provided, and the stratospheric airship is connected to the stratospheric airship via the towing line. A tug airship characterized by towing. The tag airship according to claim 1, wherein a cycloidal propeller is used as the propulsion device. 3. The tag airship according to claim 1 , wherein the tow line is connected to a maximum diameter portion of the hull or a center of gravity of the hull. 4.

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